Sister
Lucia wrote these words to describe the amazing sight she and her two
companions saw at Fatima on that eventful day in May, 1917:

“We saw
a Lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun, shedding a light
that was clearer and more intense than that of a crystal glass ﬁlled
with pure water and struck by the ﬁery
rays of the sun. Her face — indescribably beautiful — was neither sad nor
happy, but serious, with an air of mild reproach. Her hands, joined
together as if in prayer, were resting on her breast and pointing upward.
A rosary hung from her right hand. Her clothes seemed to be made of light.
The tunic was white. The veil, white and edged with gold, covered the head
of the Virgin and descended to her feet. Neither her hair nor her ears
could be seen...”

As
Sister Lucia recounts, when Our Lady appears, everything is white,
everything is clean and everything is pure. She is, after all, the Virgin
of virgins; entirely pure.

The
hymn Ave Maris Stella reminds us that Mary became “The happy
gate of Heaven,” while remaining a virgin. That is to say, it was through
her that Christ, Our Lord, came into the world without her surrendering
anything of her virginity. Always entirely pure, she attracts us by her
purity.

Also,
we learn the proper way to evangelise through the example of Our Lady.
When she appeared, she attracted us to the beauty of purity. Let us
never make the mistake of adopting dubious customs as far as purity goes,
so that people will accept us. No! To invite people to be pure, we
must show them the beauty of purity. Impurity seeks darkness to hide its
evil deeds but purity loves daylight and thrives in the open air.

At
Fatima, Our Lady spoke to an impure world using all the symbols of
purity. She was dressed in white and bathed in light. This reminds us
of when Our Lord spoke of the wild lilies of the ﬁelds,
‘Amen I say to you, not even Solamon in all his glory was arrayed as one
of these!” (Matt. 6:29)

Likewise, no one in all his or her glory was ever dressed as Our Lady was:
in light.